


shadowed by roses

by starlightwalking



Category: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Back to Middle-Earth Month, F/F, Post-Canon, Re-embodied elves, Valinor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-12
Updated: 2019-03-12
Packaged: 2019-11-16 00:46:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18084098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starlightwalking/pseuds/starlightwalking
Summary: Aredhel is re-embodied, and Nerdanel has something to show her.





	shadowed by roses

**Author's Note:**

> I'm slowly but surely catching up! Yay!
> 
> The bingo squares for March 9th were Nerdanel/Aredhel from the Crack Ships card and "bloom/devour/blinding/alliance" from the Four Words card. This doesn't feel like much of a crack ship, though! I'm very glad to write some femslash, so far B2MeM has been way too dude-heavy. And those prompts from the Four Words card! I felt like they fit this ship very well. :)
> 
> The title is from a Sapphic fragment, "Come to me here from Crete."

It was the wives of the fallen princes who welcomed their daughters, sisters, cousins back to Aman, reembodied. Anairë and Eärwen found solace in each other and refused their husbands when they returned, each in their own time. Nerdanel was with them, completing the alliance.

"Írissë," wept her mother when she first emerged from the Halls into the blinding light of the Sun. Aredhel, unused to her mother-name, had no words to whisper to Anairë.

"I hear you are called Aredhel now," said Nerdanel. Eärwen and Anairë had wandered away, besottedly in love, leaving the two of them alone. Aredhel could scarce believe her eyes to see her mother in the embrace of Eärwen, though she was happy for them both.

Aredhel smiled. "Yes, my lady," she replied. The sound of her Sindarin name was beautiful in Nerdanel's voice, and she was reminded of the days of her youth when her aunt had been the first object of her maidenly desires. She cast her eyes away from Nerdanel's full lips; what could a rebel such as she be to the faithful wife of Fëanor?

"No need for formality," Nerdanel dismissed. "We are...perhaps not family any longer, but friends, I would hope."

"Of course," Aredhel agreed, looking back up to Nerdanel's warm brown eyes. Something strange hid beneath that gaze, but she did not allow herself to tread further down that path.

Nerdanel locked arms with Aredhel, leading her toward a garden. "There is something I would like to show you," she said. "The white roses are in bloom. I grew them for your mother's sake, to remind her of you. But in tending them, I have grown fond of them in my turn." She looks at Aredhel sidelong, sending a shiver up her spine.

Statues, carved by Nerdanel herself, are everywhere in the garden, placed artfully around the fruits and flowers. Aredhel sees a figure of the three wives, larger than life, staring resolutely westward toward Taniquetildë. The three faithful women with their eyes to the Valar. They are surrounded by huge white roses, their blossoms as large as Aredhel's palm.

"Thank you for your kindness to her," Aredhel said, gesturing to her mother's stony form. "I know her grief at our departure was terrible."

"Mm, Eärwen consoled her, not I," Nerdanel dismissed. "They are caught up in each other, now. I wanted her to remember you, when she seemed to forget those who abandoned her. I never had a daughter. I would have cherished her if I had."

She stared up at the rose bushes, pride in her skill evident. It is an attractive look on her. The flowers are lovely, but Aredhel could only keep her eyes on Nerdanel's freckled, sun-bronzed skin. She is beautiful in the filtered light that dances between the shadows of the thorny branches.

"Has Fëanor—Fëanáro returned?" Aredhel asked. She had yet to meet any of her other kin, and had not seen many of them in the Halls of Mandos. And she admitted to herself that part of her hoped Nerdanel had no one to distract her.

Nerdanel laughed, but there was no humor in it. "No. He is confined to Mandos' judgment until the end of days. And it matters not: I would not accept him if he appeared on my doorstep."

"You spurn your husband, then?" Aredhel said softly.

"There was little love between us, at the end," Nerdanel said, reaching to touch the petal of the rose. "He thought only of his work, and his vengeance." She pricked her finger on a rose thorn and hissed at the sight of blood beading from the wound.

Before Aredhel could think, she took Nerdanel's hand and kissed the drop of blood away. She had once done the same for her son as he wailed like he was dying, but here... Nerdanel's finger pressed against her lips for too long. They locked eyes for a moment, until at last Nerdanel lowered her lashes.

"A true noble lady," she murmured. "I see you are not misnamed."

"It is a small repayment for your wisdom and kindness," Aredhel said, conscious of the flush rising to her pale cheeks. "And it is a mother's habit."

"Have you children, now?" Nerdanel asked. Aredhel regretted the mention of Maeglin; she would think her committed to a man. "Not with one of mine, I hope."

"No." Aredhel scowled. "My heart never lay with Cel—with Tyelkormo. Nor did I find love with Eöl, the husband who stole me away."

Nerdanel did not offer condolences: she simply took Aredhel in her arms and kissed her brow, holding her the way Eöl had never held her. Aredhel let out a soft  _hmm_  of delight, reaching out to kiss Nerdanel in return, her mouth trailing up her neck. Nerdanel moaned as Aredhel moved her hands up and down her body, brushing her breast, her legs, her belly.

"Írissë—" Nerdanel gasped, reaching down to stop her hands by entwining their fingers together. "Aredhel, I mean. Not here."

"What better place to be loved, than a garden shadowed by roses?" Aredhel murmured. "I have admired you from afar for years. Now that I am reembodied, we have the chance to take our pleasure into our own hands. Whyever should we care for our husbands?"

Nerdanel began to reply, but Aredhel silenced her with a kiss. Their mouths met, and Nerdanel melted into her. Before she understood what was happening, Aredhel found their positions reversed: now Nerdanel pressed into her, taking control until Aredhel fell upon her knees.

"Devour me," Nerdanel commanded. "If this is what you want—what  _we_  want—"

Aredhel assented, praising the Valar for releasing her spirit as she caressed every part of Nerdanel's body with every part of her own. She had never felt so blessed.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading and commenting!  
> You can find me on tumblr [@arofili](http://arofili.tumblr.com/).


End file.
